His-Story: The Autobiography of God in the Affairs of Man
An assassin’s bullet misses by an inch. Perhaps it determines the winner of an election. But if the bullet hits the mark, perhaps a nation descends into civil war. The historical impact is profound either way.
As of this blog, the answer as to who wins the USA November election cannot be known with certainty but the awareness of God’s hand in governing the affairs of nations has certainly moved to the forefront of the public consciousness. For people of God, it is one of the most comforting doctrines of our faith.
Many of you know the book I co-authored with Stephen McDowell called America’s Providential History. It’s not primarily a book about America. It’s a book about God’s providence. [order here] The publisher is the Providence Foundation, which I founded in 1983 and McDowell still leads.
In our book we mention that at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 it was one of the least orthodox Founders, Benjamin Franklin, who said: “…the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?”
Before discussing the concept of Divine Providence, I want to make it clear that although I am an American who highly values our heritage, I know that the Kingdom of God is something not dependent on America. There have been many nations in history that were identified closely with God’s Kingdom and yet they have disappeared or diminished greatly, yet the Kingdom survives. America is not my idol. I see it, as I do all nations, as creations of God, and I rightly have a duty to steward and love God’s creation – even nations. I have been to over 70 countries and that is what I teach believers everywhere. There is no such thing as “manifest destiny” for only one special nation. God is working in all of them.
Nations first appeared in the Bible in Genesis chapter ten after God established civil government under Noah after the Flood. The special nation of Israel emerged two chapters later with God’s call of Abraham. Many pagan nations and empires are also mentioned in the Old Testament with direct assertions that God sovereignly controls their leaders and actions. See several verses below:
Proverbs 16:9-10—”The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. A divine decision is in the lips of the king.” Job 12:23—”He makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.” Psalms 22:28—”For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations.” Daniel 2:21—”It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings.” Daniel 4:17, 26—”The Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind;… Your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize it is Heaven that rules.”
And when Paul speaks in pagan Greece at Mars Hill in Athens he likewise declares that God made every nation and determines their time of existence and boundaries (Acts 17). And at the end of human history the New Testament focuses on God’s final dealings with the nations of the world.
One of my personal pleasures throughout my adult life has been studying God’s providence over nations in the era from the New Testament until today. Church Fathers such as the great African – Augustine of Hippo – wrote of God’s providence in the history of men and nations in his book City of God after the sack of Rome in 410 A.D. Nations and empires can rise and fall but God’s kingdom purposes endure.
I have collected rare books that used to freely speak of providential history. French historian Charles Rollin wrote Ancient History in the 1730s that was widely read by America’s Founding Fathers. It stated that God is sovereign over history, but deals with nations dependent upon the heart and action of the people. He wrote:
“Nothing gives history a greater superiority to many branches of literature, than to see in a manner imprinted, in almost every page of it, the precious footsteps and shining proofs of this great truth, viz. that God disposes all events as Supreme Lord and Sovereign; that He alone determines the fate of kings and the duration of empires; and that he transfers the government of kingdoms from one nation to another because of the unrighteous dealings and wickedness committed therein.”
But modern historians are afraid to express this. A historian who challenges that fear is someone I met a number of years ago while in Budapest is John O’Sullivan. He is a senior fellow at National Review Institute and a contributing editor of National Review. Yesterday, his article in NR titled Providence and History addressed the idea. He said:
“Miracles are beyond the historian’s professional capacity. If an assassin’s bullet went in a certain direction, we must assume that it was because his aim and the laws of physics pushed it in that direction. …Assassinations have sometimes altered the course of history; the First World War arose from one. On [other] occasions, it was the failure of assassinations that may have altered history [such as Reagan, Pope John Paul II, and Thatcher]. …Now, non-providential historians will naturally assume that the triple survival of president, pope, and prime minister were happy accidents… But what the historian should legitimately conclude and what the survivor of an attempted assassination may believe are two very different things. And what the survivor believes may then inspire him to undertake historical actions of the first importance.”
What did Reagan conclude? “Whatever time I have left belongs to the Big Fella Upstairs.” And Pope John Paul II said: “In the designs of Providence there are no mere coincidences.” These men along with Thatcher worked closely together in the years that followed to peacefully win the cold war. And America’s Founders, legislators, military generals, and others frequently cited and credited God’s providential aid which not only altered events, but inspired the courage and perseverance of those statesmen to win the War for Independence and a successful Revolution.
Sometimes God intervenes miraculously to aide certain leaders and nations and very positive results in history are fairly obvious. But sometimes God will allow terrible political and military leaders to prevail for a season. The result is often great suffering for people. But in the long run, a greater shift occurs in those seasons that ends up bringing a much deeper and long-lasting transformation.
An example is when the Protestant Reformation was happening in 16th century England. God used an ungodly king Henry VIII whose motives were not religious to establish the Church of England independent of the Roman Catholic Church. When his son succeeded to the throne he encouraged real reform, but soon died and Mary came into power. She ruthlessly imprisoned and killed many of the Protestants, and thousands fled the country for survival. Many thought the nation was lost. But many of these English Reformers found themselves in Geneva, learning from Calvin and his model of transformation that was having success. They published the Geneva Bible that included commentary notes on how to deal with tyranny and establish justice. Then, once they were better equipped, “Bloody Mary” died and Elizabeth ascended to the throne and welcomed the Reformers back. Eventually the Separatists arose and both Puritans and Pilgrims settled in America bringing the Geneva Bible and the worldview principles that were able to shape what became the United States on a unique foundation that blessed the world (despite slavery and other things that still required further reformation).
When divisions between the American colonies and the British King came to a head, a leader named George Washington stepped forward to lead what seemed to be an impossible task – to fight and defeat the powerful British military. But he knew the power of Providence in the affairs of man. A couple decades earlier as a British officer Washington was on the frontier fighting in the French and Indian War. At one point he had several horses shot out from under him, and multiple bullets go through his clothes and hat, and yet he was spared almost certain death. He acknowledged the hand of Providence in that moment.
There are multitudes of similar moments throughout many nations and certainly many more in America’s history. America today has largely fallen away from its founding principles. Today Christian culture is no longer a majority influence. Christians are now even a persecuted minority in many places of USA. And the nation’s two parties represent a seriously divided nation. Sometimes the divisions lead to radical actions of evil and it can be troubling to many people.
But the doctrine of Divine Providence means that no matter what happens, seemingly good or terribly bad, it does not justify hopelessness. Sometimes God let’s evil run free to help many people to observe the fruit of it and come to their senses and turn in a new direction for national leadership. Perhaps 2020 was an election with cheating and fraud that led to the Biden’s presidency. Perhaps God wanted to let things be seen for what they are before Trump is given another four years. But even if not, our eyes are on God. His Kingdom rules over all. Even if America continues to decline, the Kingdom of God does not fall with it.
A belief in Divine Providence does not excuse inaction or fatalism. Properly understood, it demands of us everything in our power to steward the nation in which we live for His glory. As Jesus commanded us: “Go and makes disciples of all nations” and Paul wrote: “Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.” After Paul said to overcome evil with good he then said one key way to make that happen. He explained that government is established by God and then said that to have leaders in power who are faithful to punish evil is to have “ministers of God for good (Rom 13:4).”
God does not always require a devout Christian to be a minister of God for good in government. Sometimes he chooses pagans as His servants. Christians in an election matter. If they refrain from voting, they help ungodly leaders to prevail. We no longer have the privilege of living in a culture that has both political parties that put forth choices of two strong Christians to choose between. Yet if we demand too much of a leader in order to vote for him, we help the worst leaders prevail. Almost never in Israel’s Biblical history did they have consistently moral and perfect leaders.
God’s Providence in Politics is real. Sometimes it is life and death situations. Because He is at work, we must also act responsibly. Let’s do what we can each of us in these historic times and leave the results to God.
An important question for my readers:
I believe that the providential history and world-changing principles of the American nation need to be recognized, celebrated and rededicated in the upcoming 250th anniversary of our independence on July 4, 2026. I am already discussing some plans with a few other leaders for doing so in Philadelphia around that date and perhaps throughout the year of 2026. Our woke government will not do it justice in their official commemorations, so we need an alternative. If you know of plans already in motion in this regard, or would like to contact me to begin developing a plan, then please inquire by emailing me here.
In the meantime, prepare yourself for this key anniversary with providence-oriented American historical books from my online store: AmericaPublications.com